Soon they went to sleep, for it was getting dark. They put on their pajamas and went to bed with Liliana in the middle. However, after a few hours Erica quietly got up, got dressed and left. A fountain of timitio, a whole fountain all to herself. After seeing Bel's nomitio and his guardians she couldn't get it out of her head. She wanted more, she wanted her timitio to take on a color and get little eyes, she wanted to create an armor with a thought and be able to cut through normal timitio.

So she left the inn on her tiptoes so as not to alert anyone, especially her friends. Perhaps going to the fountain by herself was too dangerous, but she didn't want to risk them.

At that hour the town was deserted, not that it had much life during the day. There wasn't much light either, so she pulled out a flashlight she had taken with her. The flashlight could be strapped to her head to leave her hands free.

Since no one was around, Erica crouched down to lower her center of gravity and glided with her timitio along the asphalt and sidewalks, at a steady gait. She could feel it, a kind of itch inside her; she wanted to get stronger too. In less than twenty minutes she reached the end of town. She didn't plan to stop, but suddenly an animal crossed her path and jumped in her face. Erica fell backwards, brushed it off with one hand and was about to crush it under her fist, when she realized that she knew that little animal.

—Papel!

—Eeek!— he squealed happily.

Then he climbed on top of her and ran all over. She laughed.

—Do you want to go too? It's a dangerous place, maybe you'd better stay with Lili and Arturo.

—Eeek!— he shrieked again, this time more aggressively, a denial. Erica sighed.

—As you wish, you always come out alive after all.

She took advantage of the fact that she had stopped to take out the holographic map, where she had pointed out the area with the source of timitio. The path to follow was not very clear, the hologram was pixelated, something she did not expect.

—I'll have to cover a large area— she observed— I hope this fountain can be seen from far away.

Suddenly, a blast of air in her ear made her jump. When she looked up, she found Liliana.

—Lili?!

—The map doesn't show the area very well— she heard on the other side. When she turned around she found Arturo— but I think I can fix it. Let me see it.

—You too?!

—Wasn't it obvious?

Liliana smiled with a certain arrogance. Arturo took advantage of Erica's surprise to take the holographic device and set it up.

—It was written all over your face that you wanted to go to the fountain— she explained— I thought you would ask us, but you didn't.

—After what Bel told us, it was the most logical step— explained Arturo— What I can't explain is how you didn't realize that we would follow you.

Erica wanted to complain, but then the boy passed her the device, which immediately turned on and showed the map of the area in much more detail. The path could already be seen, the fountain was not far away. Not knowing what to say, he put it away.

—Shall we go?— suggested Liliana.

—The sooner we finish, the better— agreed Arturo.

—Wait— said Erica.

The others stared at her, curious.

—It's dangerous— explained the brika— I think I should go alone this time.

The others didn't think much about it.

—Of course it's dangerous— answered Arturo— a place full of territi is enough to pee your pants.

—Or would you rather we stayed at the inn, worrying about you?— complained Liliana— You'd kill my nerves!

She took Brontes out, twirled him in her fingers and finished with a dramatic pose.

—I want to get stronger too, remember?

—And me— added Arturo— but I won't do any demonstrations, to conserve energy.

—What, you're going to leave me posing alone?! —Liliana pleaded.

—I'm not good at improvising— he defended himself.

Liliana returned Brontes to his mark and folded her arms, apparently frustrated. Finally Erica laughed.

—All right, all right. Let's go, everybody.

Liliana raised her arms in joy, Arturo put his hands in his hip, satisfied. Erica took them both by the hands to begin their march up the slope.

-------------------------------------

The mountain was silent, no animals could be seen. The children walked under the night sky through steep slopes and poorly maintained paths for about an hour and a half. Liliana and Arturo each carried their own flashlight, something useful at that time of night.

They were having a nice conversation, when suddenly they noticed someone in front of them, but when they approached him they realized that it was not exactly someone, but a bony figure with long sharp fingers and jaws full of black fangs. When they recognized the territi, they froze where they stood. It was moving towards them with parsimony, but persistence. Then, when it was close enough, it jumped on Erica. The children did not wait for him to attack them. Immediately Liliana swung Brontes, but as in previous times, her blade failed to pass beyond the timitio skin.

The territi aimed its claws at Liliana, but six rock javelins shot up from the ground to pin it down. Erica reached out and grabbed it by the neck to smash the glass in its face with her other hand, but as she touched it, a deafening scream echoed inside her. Her own timitio shrieked.

—Argh, shit!— she exclaimed— I'm sorry, I keep forgetting you don't like them!

Somewhat annoyed, she turned away from the territi and raised a hand.

—Arturo, give me a glove with thorns.

—Sure.

While still holding the territi, she lifted a few kilos of rock to gather it around her arm and form a gauntlet with knuckle protection. It was somewhat crude and wouldn't absorb the impact very well, but it was better than nothing. Next the brika approached the monster to deliver a powerful blow that shattered the glass protecting its face. Then she punched it again and managed to break it. The territi's dehydrated and languid brain was exposed. Erica gave it one last blow, crushing his brain and killing him for good.

The monster's body fell to the ground. Erica tore off the glove made by Arturo and shook off her hand. Her knuckles were red, but not as badly damaged as the previous time.

—Are you all right?— Liliana asked.

—Yes, it's just... Ah, son of a bitch! I wish I could kill them without it hurting.

—It would be a good idea to get one of those pulse weapons that the legendary hero had— commented Arturo— although I didn't find any when I was researching territi. They must be hard to come by.

—Oh, we should have asked that hero where he bought it— mused Liliana.

Erica pondered for a moment.

—Although we face many monsters, we've never been to a weapon store.

—We've never had the need— said Arturo— but anyway, I checked a few catalogs specifically for the territi. None of them had a pulse weapon.

Erica scratched her head.

—We'll get one. Right now let's get some timitio and get out to here.

So they continued on. On the way they encountered a couple more territi, but nothing they couldn't handle. At the fifth territi, Arturo noticed that this one headed for Erica before Liliana or himself, as the others had the previous times. After finishing it off with a rock stake through its head, he told the girls about his hypothesis.

—The territi are after Erica— he said— the only forteme of the group.

—Oh, really?— the latter was surprised— I thought it was just my imagination.

—Maybe they feel the timitio inside you and want to eat it— ventured Arturo— or maybe they're looking for you and not your timitio. Either way, I think this could be useful to us.

—How?— Liliana asked.

—We can ambush them— said Erica— Good point, Arturo. Let's see how we do now.

As soon as they saw the next territi, Liliana and Arturo hid, while Erica stood in the middle of the road. The monster headed towards her, but on the way Arturo tripped him and buried a stake in his head. Finally Erica kicked the stake to give it momentum and drive it through his head.

—Good!

Erica and Arturo clapped their hands together, happy, while Liliana hung her head. She felt a bit useless, since the most she could do against the territi was to defend herself. Their crystals and skins were too tough for her, and while Brontes gave her great skill with the scythe, he didn't make her any stronger.

"Don't get down on yourself" he told her "even with your constant training, there's no way your strength alone can get through those things".

—I know, but I'm still the weakest of the group. I dislike not being able to keep up with them— she admitted in her mind.

Brontes didn't answer, Liliana took it as a sign of confirmation of her weakness, but soon she needed to put aside her self-pity to pay attention to the problems at hand.

After another little while they reached the highest point of the mountain. From there they noticed that the top was not a single point, but a huge circle around an equally huge pit that descended in spiral paths toward the center. There was a gap; the entrance to the cave.

—Finally!— cried Erica.

Arturo pointed to a place to show them. As the girls followed him with their eyes, they encountered a large flying ship. It had a menacing face painted on the bow, on the metal.

—We have company— Liliana observed.

—We don't know what kind of people can appear in a fountain of timitio— indicated Arturo— maybe it's another brika, or several.

The mere memory of Carabak hit them like a sledgehammer. They definitely didn't want to face something like that again so soon.

—Oh, no! What do we do?— Liliana pleaded.

—I'll go investigate the ship— offered Erica— you guys stay behind, be ready to back me up if an enemy shows up.

Liliana and Arturo nodded. The three of them quickly descended towards the flying ship. Erica jumped onto the deck, set up for people to walk on it like on a boat, and examined it for entrances. She soon found it, but before she could force it open, someone opened it from the inside and emerged to the surface pointing a gun at her. It was a noni boy, just a little boy dressed in old, baggy clothes. His arms and legs were shaking, and he held the pistol far away from his eye, very loosely. She could tell he didn't know how to handle a gun.

—D-d-d-Don't move!— he demanded, so nervous that he could easily have vomited— Wh-who do you think you are?! Huh?! Ar—are you try to steal the ship of the illustrious Captain Beard-Beard?

—Captain Beard-Beard?— Erica repeated, and turned to her friends— Do you know him?

Arturo shook his head, but Liliana seemed to remember the name.

—I think I've heard of him, is he a pirate?

—The crew of the illustrious Captain Beard-Beard are not mere pirates— said the boy, offended— We are righteous and honest bandits!

—Isn't that somewhat contradictory?— pointed Arturo.

—Silence!— demanded the boy— The crew of the illus....

But Erica kicked the pistol out of his hand and gave him a slap on the head.

—Yes, we understand. We're not here to steal your ship, although I can't say we won't either. We just want to know if there are strong people in your crew.

—Ah, you'll see!— claimed the boy as he rubbed his head— I may not be much, but Captain Beard-Beard's men are all very strong. Not counting the captain himself, who is a great forteme.

—And how much timitio has he got with him?— asked the girl.

—A lot!— asserted the boy— Enough to cover the whole ship!

This surprised the humans. The ship they were standing on was enormous, one of the largest they had ever seen. To cover it all with timitio meant a frightening amount. That captain had to be as strong as Tur or Bel, or maybe stronger.

—And where's the rest of the crew?— Erica asked— Did they all go to the cave?

—Yes, they just left— pointed the boy.

—Good. Stay here and don't bother any more— commanded Erica.

She returned to her friends to discuss the situation.

—Someone this strong could kill us— said Arturo.

Liliana lowered her head, somewhat frustrated, while Erica remained thoughtful.

—I admit I'm curious— said the brika— but I'm also a little bit scared.

—And what do you want to do— asked Arturo.

Erica held her head, undecided.

—I don't know! It's dangerous to go, but if I don't get stronger, Tur and the Chainer will crush us.

Liliana turned to the boy on the ship, skeptical, then she turned to her friends.

—I think we should go— she said— even if that Mr. Beard is angry and wants to hurt us, we can try to reason with him.

Erica and Arturo would not have believed that argument coming from someone else, but they knew Liliana and knew she had a basis for it. Arturo shrugged.

—And if it all goes wrong, we run. All right, let's go.

—Are you sure?— asked Erica.

—Of course!— they answered in chorus.

Then they signaled her to follow them with a nod of the head. Erica, more relaxed, followed them.

—Yes, let's go!— she exclaimed at last.

Encouraged, they headed into the cave. Their flashlights had several days' worth of battery life.